1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical cord storage devices and more particularly to that class wherein the electrical cord is wound and unwound in multi-turn layers within the storage area of a cord storage reel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art abounds with telephone cord reels. U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,389 issued on Mar. 19, 1974 to T. Tokizaki discloses a headphone having a reel for the internal storage of the cord. The cord is disbursed in random fashion within the storage area of the reel. Manual means are employed to rotate the reel so as to cause the cord to be dispensed from or stored within the reel. A contacting brush and rotor arrangement couples one end of the cord to the headphone.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,442,999 issued on Jan. 23, 1923 to R. B. Boyle teaches a telephone base having a reel rotatably journaled therein. The reel is adapted to store portions of a multiconductor electrical cable coupled to the telephone base in a spiral-like fashion. A spring biases the reel in a preferred direction so as to cause the cable to be wound within the confines of the reel when the cable is in a slack condition. Rotor-like conducting bands are rotatably coupled with the reel and, when used in conjunction with a plurality of stationary brushes, provide an electrical path for one end of the cable attached to the reel and the electrical components attached to the telephone base.
The Tokizaki disclosure suffers a deficiency in not disposing the cord in an orderly fashion within the reel as the reel is manually rotated so as to cause the cord to be stored therein. The Boyle invention describes a reel whose cord storage properties require the cord to be stored in non-solenoid fashion such that the amount of stored cord therein is limited to the length of cord that may be confined by a plurality of overlying turns, limited in number by the diameter of the reel.